Steady
by tastewithouttalent
Summary: "Kageyama glances at Hinata without turning his head, just a quick movement of dark eyes, but then he doesn't look away, holds Hinata's gaze without moving for a moment." Hinata is humming with adrenaline when Kageyama comes out to thank him. Part 2 of Teamwork series. Sequel to Practice; followed by Reassurance.


Hinata's shaking. His body is thrumming with adrenaline, thrilling delight buzzing under his skin until he can't keep his hands still at his sides. It's funny, really, that it didn't set in until they got off the court, the uncontrolled happiness retrospective rather than immediate. But that's good, too, he needs steady hands for playing; Hinata's willing to take hours of delayed-onset reaction for calm focus on the court.

The sound of footsteps is perfectly clear on the hard-packed dirt Hinata's sitting on, and when he looks up as the approaching figure comes around the corner he's not surprised when it's Kageyama. Not surprised, but not calm either; his heartrate skips up into overdrive, and even pressed flat to the ground his hands start shaking harder.

"Hey," Hinata manages. His voice is relatively calm, even if his eyes are wide and fixed on Kageyama, even if the taller boy isn't quite looking at him but instead at the ground beside him. Kageyama takes a step forward, turns to lean against the wall; his hands are stuffed into his pockets, shoulders hunched forward around his ears. He seems impossibly tall from this close, from the way Hinata has to crane his head up to look at him, like he's a singular embodiment of the wall Hinata sometimes sees in the others' long arms and broad shoulders.

"Thanks."

Hinata's looking right at Kageyama, watches his mouth when it moves, and still he doesn't quite take in the word correctly. "Huh?"

"Thank you." It's a little louder, this time, and then Kageyama lets himself slide down, drop to the ground alongside the smaller boy. Their shoulders are almost even, with the difference of legs taken out of the height equation. "For being there."

Kageyama's still not looking at Hinata, but he's very close. If Hinata lifted his trembling fingers he would brush against the other's leg. "Thanks for tossing to me." He can't help grinning, even though Kageyama's not looking at his expression. "I've never had someone throw for me like that. It was -" He lifts his hand to gesture unthinking; his fingers bump against Kageyama, the other boy startles, and Hinata's thought goes clear out of his head.

"- Awesome," he manages, dropping his hand back to the ground.

Kageyama glances at him without turning his head, just a quick movement of dark eyes, but then he doesn't look away, holds Hinata's gaze without moving for a moment. His mouth is open, like he's about to speak or just breathing hard, and his shoulders are so stiff Hinata's shaking gets worse just from _looking_ at the tension in the other boy's shoulders.

When Kageyama turns, it's very slow, very deliberate. Hinata can see the decision in his movement even before he gets a proper look at Kageyama's expression, the set look in his eyes and the forced steadiness to his breathing. They stare at each other for a moment, Kageyama's chin tipped down so his face falls under the shadow of his hair and Hinata's eyes wide and unblinking, and then they both move at once. Kageyama's deliberate, still, but Hinata's too fast; his vision goes blurry with proximity, his focus on Kageyama's face goes, and then their noses bump together with bruising force.

"Ow!" Hinata rocks back, reaching up to touch his own face, and Kageyama draws back with a grimace. The other boy glances at Hinata's eyes - then his gaze drops back, to the smaller boy's mouth, and Hinata's coming back in without thinking. Kageyama pulls back just short of impact this time, leaving Hinata to catch up and fumble back to his original distance while a flush starts to creep into his cheeks. He's opening his mouth to apologize, for something, anything, everything, when Kageyama looks back at his eyes. The other boy smiles, so suddenly that Hinata thinks it's not deliberate, and his own skin darkens in a blush an echo of Hinata's own.

"Close your eyes," he says.

Kageyama's reaching for him, and that's distraction enough that it takes Hinata a moment to realize that that was a command, but then he catches up, obediently shuts his eyes just as the other boy's hands settle cool and steady against his face. Kageyama pushes him gently until Hinata's face is slightly angled, and while the smaller boy is still trying to breathe around the tingle of overreaction Kageyama's touch brings, the other's mouth comes in and lines up with his own.

They're both very still for a moment. Hinata's brain rushes wildly through the last brief contact of their mouths, the shock that didn't even have time to hit until after Kageyama had pulled away, the way the other boy had flushed red and not met his gaze, the way he hadn't had a chance to _react_ before it was over. This time Kageyama is just very still for the brief eternity that it takes Hinata to remember all this; then the smaller boy sucks in air through his nose, leans in to return pressure against Kageyama's mouth, and suddenly they're _kissing_, properly, mouths fitting together and shifting and pushing and Kageyama's hands are still holding Hinata in place, keeping his head in alignment with the other boy's and holding him down to reality while his thoughts scatter away like feathers on the wind.

It's Kageyama who parts his lips, just barely, but Hinata follows fast, taking the other's cue and opening his mouth far enough that he can slide his tongue just against the taller boy's lips. Kageyama startles, Hinata can feel the jolt in his hands and arms and _mouth_, but then he comes back in, harder, and Hinata's hands are up against the back of his neck and sliding up into his hair before he thinks of it. His fingers are hot against Kageyama's skin, Kageyama's hands are sliding out of alignment on his face, but they have the angle down now, Kageyama's touching Hinata's skin and kissing Hinata's lips and licking against the inside of his mouth, all the sensations swirling together until there's no specifics, no logic or planning or thought, just instinct and warmth and inrushing delight.

When they pull apart, Kageyama's hands are shaking as badly as Hinata's and Hinata's whole body is electric with heat. But Kageyama's shoulders are tipped in, leaning him in closer to Hinata instead of forming a cage of protection, and his eyes are wide and dark with pleasure, and there's no wall to be seen anywhere between them.


End file.
